Autumn 2018

The children have adapted well to the new expectations and routines and we are delighted with the way in which they have settled in. They are already busy and hard at work!

In maths we have been reviewing a range of concepts and calculation strategies covered in Year 1, using the numbers to 20. We began by estimating numbers on an empty number track and it has been great listening to each other’s reasoning language to explain number positions. The skill of regrouping (partitioning) numbers to support calculation over ten has been practised, and we enjoyed using manipulatives and working collaboratively together to model our calculations.

We are also enjoying our new English unit which is based on the book ‘Voices in the Park’ by Anthony Browne. We have shared our own experiences of trips out and about, recording the activities we enjoy using commas in lists. We have used past tense verbs to help us write our own personal recount of a park trip. We have built on our understanding of great sentence openers to sequence our ideas and adjectives to describe a setting. You can help with your child’s understanding by drawing attention to these features during reading.

In science we will be finding out about materials. We will sort materials and use material properties to compare their suitability for different uses. We are really looking forward to devising an experiment to determine the best material with which to make a waterproof crown and we are excited to get investigating.

In topic we will be delving into the lives and times of some famous queens of England. These are the some of the ideas we have so far:

Some kings and queens live in castles.

They meet other important people.

They give out special awards.

Henry VIII was very greedy.

They send letters to people when they reach 100.

Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of England.

We will be exploring what life was like and the changes that occurred during each queen’s reign. We are looking forward to our class trip to Chiltern Open Air Museum to learn more about life during different eras.

Summer 2018

Summer Term- Australia Here We Come!

This term we have had lots of fun learning about Australia.

Aboriginal Art

In our lessons, we have been creating some beautiful Aboriginal art using a range of earth colours. We developed our weaving skills to create an Australian sunset.

How kangaroos’ got their tails.

In English, we had great fun writing our own creation stories in the style of an Australian dreamtime story and Tinga Tinga Tales. We used speech verbs and adverbs to show how the characters felt at different points of the story. We worked on applying all the Key stage 1 punctuation.

Following our story writing, we further explored the Australian landscape and wrote our own imaginative setting description of The Great Barrier Reef using a range of descriptive language.

Plant Hunters

In Science, we have been comparing animals based on what they look like and where they live. We went on a minibeast hunt to find out whether the same animals live in different places. We then looked at how animals adapt to their habitat and why they might live in a particular place. We used iPads to take photos that we will edit in our computing sessions.

Cricket

In P.E. this term, we have been lucky enough to enjoy the expertise of sports coach specialising in cricket. This has given us an amazing opportunity to learn the rules of cricket and we have loved every moment!

Spring 2018

What a fantastic spring term!

Dear Diary

In English, we have been looking at the features of recounts. Writing in the first person and past tense, we used time connectives to recount what happened on our Fire of London Day. We also learnt about the diary of Samuel Pepys. We imagined ourselves as a resident of London and retold our own version of events, using a range of noun phrases to describe what we saw, heard and felt.

This half term, we have been busy exploring the story “On the Way Home,” by Jill Murphy, a story focusing on recurring language. In the story the main character Claire has hurt her knee so she sets off home to tell her mum all about it. But just how did it happen…? Was she dropped by a wolf, a slithering snake, an enormous dragon or a hairy gorilla? From this, the children really enjoyed writing their own animal riddles and creating their own version of the story making up some imaginative events of their own.

In spelling, we have been learning about the past tense and how verb endings (suffixes) are added to make this happen. See if your child can tell you about any of the rules they have learnt and any rule breakers!

Multiplication and Division

In maths, we have been learning about multiplication and division and have used visual models and concrete resources (arrays, bead strings and number lines) to support our calculations. Using arrays and working collaboratively, we explored the link between multiplication and division. We rearranged number cards to create two divisions and two multiplications to create fact families.

Starry, Starry Night

In Art, we have been mastering our painting skills. We looked at work by Vincent Van Gogh focusing on the painting Starry Night. Inspired by the brush strokes in his paintings we created our own fiery landscape paintings to represent the Fire of London.

Computer Programmers

In our computing lessons, we used Scratch to program our own characters to escape the Fire of London. We painted our own London background and created algorithms for our character to follow.

Geography

In our geography learning, we have been learning to recognise the human and physical features of settlements (town, village and city). We used maps and aerial photographs to name the countries of the U.K. and work out which are the capital cities and surrounding seas. Having researched some characteristics of one of the four countries, we created our own holiday poster.

Church Visit

In our R.E. learning, we took a trip to our local church to look at the different features of the church and how they are used in religious worship.

Collaborative Learning

The children, parents and grandparents had a wonderful afternoon sharing and learning together in the classroom. They created Tudor houses which we joined together to make our own Tudor Street. We have enjoyed sharing and listening to each other’s home learning projects. It has been wonderful to share in the children’s passion for our topic learning.

Outdoor Learning

This term, we had an exciting maths morning outside the classroom, when Harpenden’s wildlife officer Heidi Mansell came to work with us. We used the schools natural resources to practise our number facts, tally and order numbers. We also had great fun, creating our own number potion. We had to solve a range of different addition and subtraction challenges to locate the right quantity of ingredients.

The Great British Bread Bake

This term, our D&T was linked to our Fire of London topic. Saturn class worked really hard to think about what would make a successful bread roll and which flavour combinations would work well together. Next they made, shaped, baked and ate their delicious rolls!

Great Fire of London Day

We had a wonderful history workshop, learning why the fire happened, why it spread so far and its effects on the city and people. Through a combination of role play, and hands on activities we took on the role of workers and residents of London on Monday 3rd September 1666. We used artefacts and different historical sources to find how the past is represented.

Autumn 2017

Addition and Subtraction

After half term, we have been busy securing our knowledge of addition and subtraction methods by using practical resources to model our learning.

Skeleton Shapes

We have begun to understand the properties of 3D shapes. Our challenge was to identify the 3D shapes from clues given, concentrating on the shapes edges and vertices.

Growing Up

In Science, we have been learning to recognise changes that take place as animals grow older. Some of us produced a class project on human development. We are very proud of our wonderful learning!

Royal Research

Royal Portraiture

In Art, we used royal portraits as the inspiration for our learning. We developed our observational skills when sketching and painting the Queen. We mastered the techniques of drawing lines of different thicknesses, showing texture and pattern in our art. We practised the skills of colour mixing and created a variety of tones to use in our final painting. We welcomed our parents and grandparents in to class and enjoyed sharing an afternoon’s learning with them.

Successful Leaners

In PSHE, we have discussed what makes a good learner. We worked in groups to share and discuss our ideas.

We have really enjoyed our first term in Year 2 and look forward to new challenges next term.